A common architecture of motherboards for use in commercially available computer systems includes a central processing unit (CPU), a chipset and some peripheral circuitry. CPU is a core of a computer system for executing a variety of logic operations and dominating operations of the entire system. A chipset is a bridge for coordinating the CPU and a number of peripheral devices, and typically but not necessarily includes a north bridge (NB) chip and a south bridge (SB) chip.
Another essential device included in a motherboard is a system memory which is generally implemented with a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). A system memory is generally in direct communication with the NB chip. Depending on various reading/writing specifications, currently available system memories include Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double Date Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), etc.